This invention arose out of a need to determine the smoothness and absorbency characteristic of paper. However, it is to be recognized that the features of this invention are readily applicable to the testing of the smoothness and absorbency characteristic of any type of porous material.
A problem has heretofore existed in the manufacture of paper, to one side of which is applied a silicone substance to enable the writing on the opposite side thereof to be transferred onto the upper surface of a separate second page without the use of a separate sheet of carbon paper. Often times this coated material will smear onto the upper surface of the second page. It was heretofore thought that the substance which was coated onto the paper was at fault and primarily responsible for the smearing characteristic. However, recent tests have indicated that the smearing characteristic is directly related to the smoothness and absorbency characteristic of the paper. It has now become a problem to determine which paper has suitable characteristics to enable this coating procedure to take place and to eliminate the smearing characteristic.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a smoothness and absorbency apparatus to facilitate the determination of the porosity characteristic of a porous material prior to its being coated with a coating substance.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for determining the porosity characteristic of a porous material prior to its being coated with a coating material.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus which is durable, simple to operate, easy to maintain and to provide the necessary data from which it can be determined whether the tested material has a suitable porosity characteristic for the application of a specified coating material thereto.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus capable of driving an elongated strip of material at a specified speed relative to a reservoir from which is applied a liquid having a predetermined viscosity and a timer for timing the interval of time that it takes for the liquid to be absorbed into the moving strip of material.